1.

There was an accident occurring in your city at 7:10 this morning at the intersection of Post
Road and Rollins Avenue. Charles R. Lydon was driving north on Post Road and proceeded to
enter the intersection in his van at a speed estimated at 40 mph. His van struck a fire engine
responding to an emergency call, with its lights and siren in operation. Two firemen aboard
the vehicle were hospitalized; however, their condition is not known at this point in time.
Lyden was killed instantly in the serious and tragic accident. Authorities have not yet
determined who was at fault. The truck was traveling an estimated 25 mph and responding to
a report of a store fire. However, it was a false alarm. Lydons van was totally destroyed.
Damage to the truck was estimated at $50,000.

2. There was a report issued in Washington, D.C. today. It came from the Highway Loss Data
Institute, an affiliate of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. It shows that there are
advantages to driving big cars. A study by the institute found that small two-door models and
many small or midsize sport or specialty cars have the worst injury and repair records. Many
of these small cars show injury claim frequencies and repair losses at least 30 percent higher
than average, while many large cars, station wagons and vans show 40 percent to 50 percent
better-than-average claim records. According to the analysis, a motorist in a four-door
Oldsmobile Delta 88, for example, is 41 percent less likely than average to be hurt in an
accident.

3. An article appeared today in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The article
concerns the dangers of hot dogs. "If you were trying to design something that would be
perfect to block a childs airway, it would be a bite-size piece of hot dog," says a researcher.
He concluded that children under 4 should "never be given a whole hot dog to eat," and that
hot dogs should never be cut crosswise. The hot dogs are so dangerous that every five days, it
is estimated, someone, somewhere in the United States, chokes to death on them. Other risky
foods for young kids up to 9 years of age include: candy, nuts, grapes, apples, carrots and
popcorn.

4. The family of Kristine Belcuore was grief-stricken. She was 51 years old and died of a heart
attack last week. She left a husband and four children. Because her death was so sudden and
unexpected, an autopsy had to be performed before the funeral last Saturday. It was a big
funeral, costing more than $7,000. More than 100 friends and relatives were in attendance.
Today, the family received an apologetic call from the county medical examiner. Mrs. Belcuors
body is still in the morgue. The body they buried was that of a woman whose corpse had been
unclaimed for a month. The error was discovered after the medical examiners office realized
the month-old corpse had disappeared. Someone probably misread an identifying tag, they
said. Also, the family never viewed the remains, they kept the casket closed throughout the
proceedings. A relative said, "We went through all the pain and everything, all over the wrong
body, and now we have to go through it again."

5. Its another statistical study, one that surprised researchers. For years, researchers thought
that advanced education translated into greater marriage stability. Then they discovered that
marital disruption is greater among more highly educated women than any other group
 (except those who haven't graduated from high school). Now a sociologist at The Ohio State
University has conducted a new study which explains some of the reasons why women with
graduate degrees are more likely to be graduated from their marriages as well. The key fact
seems to be timing. Women who married early, before they began graduate school, are more
likely to have established traditional family roles which they find difficult to change. When the
wife goes back to school and no longer wants to handle most of the housework, it causes
resentment on the part of the husband. If the husband refuses to pitch in and do his share, it
creates tension. Such unhappiness on both sides often leads to divorce. Indeed, a third of the
women who began graduate school after they were married ended up separated or divorced.
By comparison, only 15.6 percent of those who married after they had finished an advanced
degree ended up divorced or separated. They seem more likely to find husbands supportive of
their educational goals.

6. The Department of Justice, as it often does, conducted a crime-related survey. It questioned

long-term prisoners. It found that new laws limiting the ownership of guns do not discourage
handgun ownership by career criminals. The report concludes, however, that even though
curbs on legitimate retail sales of guns have failed to attain the goal of keeping weapons out
of the hands of criminals, the laws still may serve other useful functions. The report explains
that criminals get their weapons most often by theft or under-the-counter deals. The
department surveyed 1,874 men serving time for felonies in 11 state prisons and found that
75 percent said they would expect little or no trouble if they tried to get a handgun after their
release from prison. Fifty-seven percent had owned a handgun at the time of their arrest.
Thirty-two percent of their guns had been stolen, 26 percent acquired in black market deals,
and others received as gifts from family and friends. Only 21 percent had been bought through
legitimate retail outlets.

7. Thomas C. Ahl appeared in Circuit Court today. He pleaded guilty last week to robbing and
murdering two restaurant employees. In return for pleading guilty prosecutors promised not to
seek the death penalty. He was sentenced today. Ahl is 24 years old, and the judge sentenced
him to two life terms, plus 300 years. It is the longest sentence ever given anyone in your
state. Ahl will be 89 before he can be considered for parole. The judge explained that Ahl had
a long history of violence and brutality, and that the public deserved to be protected from him.
There had been no reason for him to shotgun the two employees to death. Ahl himself
admitted that they had not resisted him in any way.

8. The International Standardization Organization, which is composed of acoustics experts, today

opened its annual convention. The convention is meeting in Geneva, Switzerland. Delegates
from 51 countries are attending the convention, which will continue through Sunday. An
annual report issued by the organization warned that noise levels in the world are rising by
one decibel a year. If the increase continues, the report warned, "everyone living in cities
could be stone deaf by the year 2020." The report also said that long-term exposure to a noise
level of 100 decibels can cause deafness, yet a riveting gun reaches a level of 130 decibels
and a jet aircraft 150.
9. A 19-year-old shoplifting suspect died last Saturday. Police identified him as Timothy Milan. He
lived at 1112 Huron Avenue and was employed as a cook at a restaurant in the city. A guard
at Panzer's Department Store told police he saw Milan stuff 2 sweaters down his pants legs,
then walk past a checkout line and out of the department store. The guard then began to
chase Milan, who ran, and 3 bystanders joined in the pursuit. They caught up with Milan, and,
when he resisted, one of the bystanders applied a headlock to him. A police officer who
arrived at the scene reported that Milan collapsed as he put handcuffs on him. An autopsy
conducted to determine the cause of death revealed that Milan died due to a lack of oxygen to
the brain. Police today said they do not plan to charge anyone involved in the case with a
crime because it "was a case of excusable homicide." The police said the bystanders did not
mean to injure Milan or to kill him, but that he was fighting violently—punching and kicking at
his captors and even trying to bite them—and that they were simply trying to restrain him and
trying to help capture a suspected criminal, "which is just being a good citizen."

10. Several English teachers at your citys junior and senior high schools require their students to
read the controversial book, "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn." The book was written by
Mark Twain. Critics, including some parents, said last week that the book should be banned
from all schools in the city because it is racist. After considering their complaints and
discussing them with his staff, the superintendent of schools, Gary Hubbard, announced today
that teachers will be allowed to require reading the book in high school English classes but not
in any junior high school classes. Furthermore, the superintendent said that it will be the
responsibility of the high school teachers who assign the book to assist students in
understanding the historical setting of the book, the characters being depicted and the social
context, including the prejudices which existed at the time depicted in the book. Although the
book can no longer be used in any junior high school classes, the school superintendent said it
will remain available in junior and senior high school libraries for students who want to read it
voluntarily. The book describes the adventures of runaway Huck Finn and a fugitive slave
named Jim as they float on a raft down the Mississippi River.